I finally got Garmont Vetta hike boots, still looking for the holy grail of LIGHT (say 2.5 lbs) boots that offer enough support for boulder-hopping, and have soles that will take rigid crampons yet are good enough for class 4 rock. The Vetta hikes do OK in the stiffness department, and allow me to ascend moderate snow slopes with strap-on crampons and some confidence. The soles are definitely not very sticky, but not too bad.

But they have goretex liners. After a hard day, my feet are wet with their own sweat, even if I change socks a few times.

Does anyone make light, stiff-soled boots that do NOT have goretex liners? My boots tend to get wet only when I am on snow, and I can use berghaus-type over-the-boot (but not sole) gaiters for that situation.

It seems to me that goretex in leather/fabric boots is highly over-rated -- but every manufacturer is using it these days.

MoapaPk wrote:I finally got Garmont Vetta hike boots, still looking for the holy grail of LIGHT (say 2.5 lbs) boots that offer enough support for boulder-hopping, and have soles that will take rigid crampons yet are good enough for class 4 rock. The Vetta hikes do OK in the stiffness department, and allow me to ascend moderate snow slopes with strap-on crampons and some confidence. The soles are definitely not very sticky, but not too bad.

But they have goretex liners. After a hard day, my feet are wet with their own sweat, even if I change socks a few times.

Does anyone make light, stiff-soled boots that do NOT have goretex liners? My boots tend to get wet only when I am on snow, and I can use berghaus-type over-the-boot (but not sole) gaiters for that situation.

It seems to me that goretex in leather/fabric boots is highly over-rated -- but every manufacturer is using it these days.

Just a thought here, Moapa; but have you ever tried antiperspirant on your feet? My feet sweat like crazy and using ap on them has really helped with keeping my feet/socks/boots dry.

I would look for something with eVent liner, it is more breathable than Gore-Tex. For example, my last pair of soccer cleats, Nike T90 Lasers, had eVent in them and were still pretty comfortable and breathable...and that is playing soccer on artificial turf in Arizona.The issue, as I have heard it, is that manufacturers made long-term contracts with Gore-Tex, so they still have to keep using it. But, here are some brands that use eVent:

I tried on the Salewa but they don't fit the shape of my small toes. I said screw it and bought another pair of Trango S.

I have a pair of Asolo FSN85, they are not stiff at all. Neither are the FSN95 or other Asolo light hikers like Fugitives. I was going to suggest Kayland but it looks like they switched from Event to Gore-Tex